Chapter 192 · Strange signs

The depths of the Black Forest that stretch southwest from the Nordland border to Middenland are where most people can think of when they think of it in fear.

Dark, dreary, and overgrown, Dracowald Forest is like a mad wizard’s attic, with many bizarre secrets hidden in it, some older than the Empire, and best never to be discovered.

Most of Nordland’s inhabitants believe that the forest is disgusted by the presence of humans, and that even after thousands of years, it has not been adapted to the existence of humans, axes and fires in the forest, and woodcutters and other adventurers have penetrated The people of the forest believe that when they are not paying attention, the forest reroutes to confuse those who anger it, and even lead to death.

Not only is the Black Forest home to plenty of prey like deer and wild boars, but also terrifying creatures like giant spiders waiting for humans, dwarves, and pointy-eared elves to fall into their traps, and even the vegetation on the ground can be deadly, especially in dense In the bushes lurk blood plugs, thorns of animal intelligence that feed on the blood of captured creatures.

This is the second week that the army has entered the forest. The army of Baron Draco and Middenheim have eliminated seven Beastmen warbands, a small greenskin tribe and an army of the Red Venom tribe. .

Through the mounds, river valleys and lush forests, the gloomy forest winds passed directly through the humans, and the combined army of dwarves and wood elves penetrated directly into their bodies through the animal skin cloaks and leather armor on their bodies.

“Woo-woo–”

Accompanied by the sound of the wind, there was a low groan-like wailing. The forest spirits of Drakovald’s Black Forest were affected by corrosion for a long time, and their branches became twisted and dangerous, releasing infinite resentment towards the living.

This is also one of the reasons why in the war against the beastmen, although humans have powerful firearms, they still cannot completely defeat the cancer of nature. A splash.

Three wood elf rangers from Lauren Loren Forest walked two or three hundred meters ahead of the coalition forces, and they guided the coalition forces.

The forest spirits in the enchanted forest are not all kind, especially the dangerous black forest. Humans and dwarves can easily get lost in the ever-changing “living forest”. They need wood spirits to guide the way in the dimly lit Dracoval. Heading in the given direction in the De Forest.

A large group of human armies are shuttled through the forest. The soldiers of the baronity are holding halberds and swords, holding crossbows and muskets, and they are constantly advancing along the wilderness trails in the forest. They try their best to make their own movements along the way. Smaller, to avoid attracting unnecessary attention, the deep-rooted fear in the black forest cannot be shaken off in a short time, not to mention the long and difficult journey is a huge challenge for the knights, but no soldier complained.

Likewise, everyone is eager to fight.

Lyren is never stingy with the reward for the captured loot. The more enemies he kills, the more the soldier himself can get paid.

After the battle between the coalition forces and the Red Venom tribe, everyone’s pockets have been enriched a lot. Forest goblins don’t like gold and silver, but night goblins love to collect shiny things, amber, agate, human coins, and even a small amount of high purity. The ore was hidden with him, but now, it has become the trophy of the coalition forces. …

It is not suitable for knights to charge and march in groups in the forest. Most of the white wolf knights and eternal knights are walking. They take off other armors except the breastplate and shoulder armor, and they are transported by dozens of carriages. The elves shuttled swiftly between the woodlands. They were the eyes and ears of the allied army, responsible for monitoring all the changes in the surrounding forest, while the dwarves complained again and again, those thick roots and thorns hindered their progress, and the dense forest between Thick weapons obstructed their vision.

“Speaking of which, Lord Armand, I noticed that your mount is also an adult half-griffin. Can you tell us how you tame it?” During the march, Laylen and the winter wolf knight Armand walked side by side. , The two powerful knights were walking on the ground in the forest, unimpeded, “It must be full of danger and twists and turns.”

“Yes, it is much more difficult to tame a half-griffin than to defeat a hundred orcs.” Armand nodded and whispered: “My half-griffin mount has been with me for seven years. It is from Rickwood. A pure-blooded half-griffin of the forest, when I was thirty-two years old, I was invited by the Knights of the White Wolves to the Hetgart fortress to jointly destroy a group of ogres that appeared in the Grey Mountains. In that war , I accidentally bumped into a half-griffin hunting.”

How dangerous, encountering a starving half-griffin in the wild is basically equivalent to being sentenced to death.

“Afterwards, I fought it and managed to tame it, with my lord Uric on top, and the claws of the half-griffins nearly ripped me open.”

A few simple words could not conceal the pride in the Omandian atmosphere. He was able to defeat a half-griffin in the wild. This was already a powerful knight out of a hundred.

“Speaking of which, Lord Armand, Rickwood Forest belongs to the Rick Territory, so how could the Knights of the Sun of Vengeance stationed in Burgundhafen allow you to take away the half-griffins?” Laylen’s flag officer, Adrie Ann asked curiously.

“Because at the beginning, Clement James, the great mentor of the Knights of the Sun of Vengeance, wanted me to join the Sun of Vengeance, but I refused.” The Winter Wolf Knight said calmly.

The Knights of the Sun of Vengeance, a special force belonging to Rickland and directly under the Elector of Rickland, is different from other old knights. The number of Knights of the Sun of Vengeance is very rare, between ten and twenty, But without exception, every Vengeful Sun Knight has a half-griffin mount.

When war is called, they wear gilded armor with a golden sun, and a golden cap, and the banner of the Knights’ flag bears images of the sun of vengeance and valiant knights, depicting the Empire’s defeat of monsters in the vampire wars scenario.

Silver-white mist shrouded this dark and gloomy forest, and also covered the endless forest land, which is the resting place of the warriors who have sacrificed for hundreds of years.

Here is where their bones are buried, the souls of the warriors of the Empire are housed, and they guard their damp and decaying cemetery.

“Stop advancing, camp and rest~~~”

After marching continuously for five hours, the coalition army of more than 2,000 people camped in an abandoned human stronghold, where they will rest and spend the night. …

In the Black Forest, marching is a very slow thing, and it cannot be rushed.

Dwarves and wood elves can endure without food for a long time and maintain a certain combat effectiveness. The only thing they need is to replenish arrows and weapons, but as short-lived humans, they cannot eat for two days, even if they are wearing rune plate armor. The Eternal Knight is also greatly discounted. The stronger the strength, the greater the appetite. Only relying on the food loaded on the carriage with the army, there are more than 2,000 people and more than 2,000 mouths. The only way to get food in the forest is to hunt animals. a few days.

Laylen thought of this before he set off. The forest patrol battalion of Baron Draco formed a logistics transport team of more than 300 people. The soldiers of the patrol battalion passed through the outposts set up along the way and the wasteland opened up. Forest Road, sending a steady stream of logistical supplies to the hinterland of the forest to support the coalition forces.

Soon, the camps on the carriage were quickly assembled on the spot, and fires to drive away the cold were lit in the forest. Nearly 300 tents were built around the abandoned human stronghold. The soldiers had a place to rest, and the knights cherished them very much. His own war horse was busy cleaning up the fur for the first time, and at the same time, the auxiliary soldiers brought a large bundle of forage, which was mixed with black beans, and the war horse was the second life of the knight.

At the other end of the camp, the imperial engineer Benny Sutterson and his young female apprentice adjusted the mortar and carefully re-dressed the gun. The members of the artillery crew re-installed the gun on the trailer to ensure that nothing went wrong.

Lailun took a deep breath of the dry air in the forest. The cold wind blew his face, and there was only a natural breath. The young baron walked between the camps, inspiring the morale of the soldiers. After a large-scale downsizing battle, the total scale remained at more than 2,200 people.

After successive victories, the morale of the coalition soldiers was high, and the soldiers of different races got along more harmoniously with each other, especially after Laylen allowed the crossbowmen to participate in the hunting in the forest, the camp at night, there was a coveted smell. of roasted venison.

Baron Draco’s tent was erected in the middle of the camp by the halberdiers.

Covering an area of ​​70 square meters, the hexagons are tied and fixed by wooden stakes. The surface of the blue and white tent has been repeatedly compacted, and a few knight kite shields are hung. A thick layer of tent cloth is enough to resist the cold wind at night. The brazier was also lit and placed in the tent, which was different from the cold outside the tent, which was warm and pleasant.

Leren’s dinner is simple, a basket of whole-wheat bread, grilled deer chops, and a pot of fragrant broth.

After a quick dinner, the entire camp was in good order, patrolling, resting, and the most important point in field operations was to maintain sufficient physical strength. Those long-bearded dwarves with spare energy took out a few barrels of brewing from the logistics carriage. Beer, forty or fifty dwarves sat down around a fire, and the oldest white-bearded man with the longest beard told the ancient tales that were told among the mountains, and they drank the beer in great gulps, grabbing with big oily hands. with grilled meat and fluffy bread.

The performance of the dwarves in the war won high praise from the coalition forces, and also won a lot of spoils. The defense line guarded by them is as firm and solid as the dwarves’ stubborn and stubborn temper. …

When the bearded man babbles about stories, there will be a group of humans and a few wood elves standing by and listening quietly. The potential fear in the black forest has eliminated the racial barriers, whether humans, dwarves or elves. , everyone is enjoying one of the few security.

Outside the coalition camp, the soldiers on guard did not dare to relax for a moment, but it was too quiet, especially quiet. In the past two or three days, they had neither encountered the Beastmen War Gang nor the forest goblins who came to take revenge. It was as if Traveling in a no-man’s land, there is only forest except forest.

After setting up the camp, the scouts all checked the entire camp for several kilometers, and there was no trace of the Beastmen.

At any time, it is impossible for the insidious forest goblins to easily let go of the enemy. The Red Venom Tribe entrenched near the place where the dragon slumbers must have a large number of goblin goblins and various monsters, as well as the lair of giant spiders. Lun and the others had already led the army to advance in depth, but the deeper they went, the less the enemy appeared.

Standing in front of the wooden table in the tent, a meticulous map of Dracowald Forest was spread out on the wooden table. Laylen always felt that something was wrong, and his vigilant eyes kept wandering between the dark abyss and the sleeping dragon. land.

Von Tugenheim, the wood elf woodland lord Olasif Piazza, Nikas Francis and others opened the curtain door and walked to the big table. Your Excellency Lun, the logistics statistics have been collected, and our remaining supplies can last for another ten days. If we repair it in place for a day or two, the logistics can be replenished to two-thirds of the pre-war level, which is enough.”

“Well, very good, what about our ammo usage?” Lallen didn’t look up, his eyes still on the sheepskin map.

“Sufficient, it takes more than enough shells to shoot a few artillery pieces until they explode.”

“Francis, report on the attrition of the army.”

“Yes, my lord.” Sir Francis said, “The statistics have now been completed. Forty-seven were killed, one hundred and twenty-three were wounded, and twenty-one were seriously injured. Soldiers and swordsmen, the rest were wounded and in good condition, only a few of the two musketeer companies and the artillery battalion were wounded, and if they could be repaired for two days, most of the wounded would be able to return to the battle.”

The loss of the army was less than one-tenth, which was far within the tolerance range.

Lailen tapped his fingers on the table and stood up straight: “Then the army will be repaired in place for two days, this is a protracted battle, the soldiers need adequate rest, order the baron’s patrol battalion, send an additional company to come, add There is a vacancy, and one more thing, logistical supplies are very important, Francis, let you supervise.”

“Understood, my baron.”

Nikas-Francis turned and left the camp, the wood elf woodland lord first glanced outside, and then said: “I have taken the ranger to scout five kilometers around the camp, except for a few wandering beastmen, I haven’t seen them again. over any enemy.”

“So, the forest goblin tribe moved their positions?” Laren asked with a frown.

“It seems like this. The Red Venom Tribe should have moved the den of the dragon’s slumber to another place. However, the rangers did not notice any signs of large-scale migration.” Olasif also Frowning, the wood elves were also very confused by this.

“Huh? That’s weird.”

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